Quote

Soft moss a downy pillow makes, and green leaves spread a tent,
Where faerie fold may rest and sleep until their night is spent.
The bluebird sings a lullaby, the firefly gives a light,
The twinkling stars are candles bright, Sleep, Faeries all, Goodnight.
---Elizabeth T. Dillingham "A Faery Song"

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Iris-sistible!

Ok, I feel another love affair coming on-- between myself and iris!  No dear rose(s) not to worry you are not being replaced.  I have enough "love" to go around!  Thanks to plant swaps, generous friends, boost jobs from cemeteries and unsuspecting vacant lots (and one weak moment in Walmart)...I have collected quite a few.  Each day for the last few weeks I run to the garden and find a new gift has opened.  I only know the name of one of these so feel free to help me ID some of them if you can.

A plant swap beauty...it is a ghostly blue color- very unusual I think and I love the ruffled petals.

Supreme Sultan...my Walmart Iris.

I have no idea about this one but it is a very small bloom and short in stature.  I love the pastel color blend.

I have been coveting the white/purple blends in others' yards...Surprise!  I have one too!  I love the edging of the purple with the white, it makes it glow.

This year a generous co-worker gave me free reign to get flower starts from her mother-in-law's yard (she's in the nursing home).  She must be a lover of iris too..I found 3 nice varieties there including this one.  Yay!

The next two are the dearest of all as they came from my mom's house.  She had them for years until they had all but stopped blooming.  About 4 years ago I laboriously dug them all out, shared with my sister and co-workers then planted the rest.  It took 3 years for them to start blooming but they have been faithful since.  The pastel lavender has a sweet scent that carries on the wind.  Makes me want to stop what I'm doing and say "hi mom!"


Thanks for sharing my "presents" with me!

4 comments:

  1. I have the second one photoed and it is huge. Do you fertilize?

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  2. I love the third and fourth one! You have quite an Iris collection yourself. I'm glad you found us on Phillip's blog. I look forward to reading more of your post and seeing your beautiful flowers. -- Randy

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  3. Love your iris. It has long been a favorite of ours and they always bloom so beautifully.

    Sandy

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  4. I admit the only fertilizer these have gotten is when they are planted...good old manure! Supreme sultan bloomed for the first time last year and it was huge! I noted this year smaller blooms. I really have them in a not so great spot and was thinking of moving them eventually.

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